tasty grain free recipes from a former omnivore

crockpot crispy carnitas soup {paleo, gluten free, dairy free option}

The days are getting longer as we slowly inch closer to spring, but I’m still all about that soup life.

Particularly, slow cooker crispy carnitas soup!

Yessss.

It’s kind of like a glorious meeting between a crispy carnitas taco and a spicy, brothy mexican tortilla soup, and it’s totally perfect for your mid-winter soup appetite.

Plus! It’s made in the crockpot – also known as the weekday dinner’s BFF. Which means warm, aromatic, comforiting dinner to be excited about when you get home from work. I don’t know about you guys, but one of my favorite feelings in the world on a cold rainy day is knowing I have something amazing just simmering away at home, and waiting to be shared!

It takes some of the pressure off of our already hectic weeks. And we could all use a little more of that.

I feel like I’ve taken the power of the crockpot for granted for waaay too long! I know, I know, roll your eyes at me.. but I reach for it only about once a month, maybe less. What have I been doing with my life?! because after some recent successes – like this crispy carnitas soup – I think I’m going to be using it a little bit A LOT more.

I mean I love my pressure cooker too, and when time is short and you just can’t wait 5-8 hours for that meat to get super tender, that’s definitely the winning kitchen appliance (and while I haven’t tested it myself, I bet this recipe would work well in the pressure cooker).

But there’s other times where you want that meal to cook in slow motion. To take up just the right amount of time. The hours that your sleeping, while you’re away at work, or during an on-the-go weekend where you want that family meal, but don’t have the time to tend the stove.

Also, there’s something to be said for the slow filling up of the house with the delicious aroma of a meal on-it’s way! It gives me the warm fuzzies inside.

I think of all cooking as magic, but the crockpot slow’s down the process enough that the magic of it sinks in a little bit more.

There’s a little bit of prep that you need to do once the soup is done, but nothing too time consuming. Basically you’ll remove the pork roast, shred it, and fry it in a skillet with some ghee or avocado oil to crisp it up, blend about half of the soup and add everything back to the pot, and then cut up some garnishes.

You could make it even simpler by skipping the crisping step of the shredded pork – although IMHO that’s kinda the best part of this soup – sooo maybe don’t skip that part! Unless of course you’re short on time. Either way you’ll still have an amazing, flavorful bowl of soup to enjoy.

Now go do something fun with that extra time you just scored cuz your crockpot crispy carnitas soup is already on it’s way! 😘

did you make this recipe? I would love to know how it turned out for you! when you rate my recipes and leave feedback it helps me continue to improve. you can leave me a comment below, or snap a picture and post it to instagram with the tag @nyssaskitchen or hashtag #nyssaskitchen! xo